


music to my ears

by emmadeadend



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, M/M, Pianist Harry, Singer Draco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 14:36:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8988061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmadeadend/pseuds/emmadeadend
Summary: Harry works at a small, dated Italian restaurant as pianist, and Draco works at the same restaurant as a waiter that also sings.





	

Harry liked his job. Sure, it was the same small gig every night, and it didn’t pay well, but he was doing the only thing he knew he was good at.

Ever since he was young, Harry loved music. So did his parents. His father would play his favorite records constantly on nearly full volume. And though his mother would wish James would turn the volume down just a bit, she really did love the look James got in his eye when he tried to pass his love of music down to his son.

And it worked. Harry’s love of music stayed even after his parents were gone. Unfortunately, the Dursleys didn’t like music. They thought the majority of it was loud and pointless. If they listened to any music at all, it was the same “The Very Best of Mozart” CD every time, since it was the only one they owned. Harry did have an appreciation for classical music, but he craved more than just the same CD over and over again. He wanted all of it. Rock, pop, jazz, alternative, blues, punk, hip-hop, metal.

The Dursleys had a beautiful piano that was most likely an old family heirloom. They tried to get Dudley to learn to play it, but his fingers were too short and fat to play anything more than two notes at a time. All Harry ever wanted to do was play that piano, so Harry brokered a deal with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. If he made breakfast every morning, did the laundry, and promised not to make any trouble at school and at home, he could play the piano for one hour every day. Some weekends, if Harry was lucky, there would be another chore he could do, which would get him another hour.

The only material he had for learning was “A Beginner’s Guide to Piano” which Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon bought for Dudley to use with his teacher. But Harry made do because all he wanted was to be able to play the piano.

And he actually taught himself pretty well. He joined his middle school band as the secondary pianist, since he was still learning. When he got to high school, he auditioned and got into the jazz band.

That was when Harry fell in love with jazz. He loved the strange and beautiful chords, the uniqueness, and the freedom that came from playing it. After picking up a job as a clerk at the local grocery store, Harry was finally able to afford his own keyboard, which he could play with headphones in so he didn’t have to have the Dursley’s permission to play. As Harry grew up and threw himself into school and music, the Dursleys left him alone a bit more.

However, the Dursleys wouldn’t allow Harry to go to university for music, as they said it was a route to nowhere. So he went to university for accounting. But, he continued to play piano, since it really was what he loved to do.

And when he finished university, instead of finding a job as an accountant and preparing for life at a monotonous desk job, Harry took all of his savings, rented the smallest apartment in London and said goodbye to the Dursleys forever.

For work, Harry played piano in a small pizzeria in London. The restaurant was pretty dated, and was almost falling apart, but it was a place where Harry was paid for doing what he loved.

Mostly he just played instrumental versions of jazz standards or old show tunes. But some of the waiters in the restaurant would also sing and Harry would accompany them. Some waiters were better at singing than others, and Harry definitely had favorites. Well, he had a favorite. His name was Draco Malfoy. He was tall and skinny, with pale skin and platinum blonde hair. Harry didn’t know very much about him, but he knew that he was a tenor, he loved to sing jazz, and that he was damn good at it.

The fact that Draco was gorgeous was merely a bonus. Harry really liked Draco for his voice. It was warm, and could be either big or small, depending on how Draco wanted it. Draco’s voice was perfect for jazz and he knew it.

Harry’s dinner shift started at five, but he typically liked to get there about twenty minutes early to sort out his music and ask the waiters what they would be singing tonight. Juliet decided she was singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” for the second time this week. George would be singing “Fly Me to the Moon” even though he couldn’t quite carry that tune. Wesley, Ashley, and Giles were all singing songs they had sung before.

And then there was Draco. He was standing by the back door in loose, rolled light-wash jeans, a light blue t-shirt, and white converse. The blue made his grey eyes pop. Harry always got a bit nervous whenever he went up to ask Draco what he was singing. Those stunning grey eyes looking back at his made their every interaction feel somehow intense.

“Hello, Draco.”

“Harry.”

“Hi. Do you know what you want to sing tonight?”

“Do you know ‘Night and Day’?”

Did he know “Night and Day”? That was one of Harry’s favorite jazz songs. Just thinking about Draco singing it in his perfect voice was enough to make Harry think he might have a heart attack right then and there.

“Yeah, I can play ‘Night and Day’. Do you want an intro or anything?”

“You can just follow me. You’re a good enough pianist.”

Then Draco winked and walked away, presumably to get into his work clothes. Harry stood there, not quite sure of how to feel. So he just decided to not feel, went to the piano and began to play. There was a set order for every night, and it always put Draco at the restaurant’s busiest time, which was seven o’clock.

Harry just finished playing an instrumental version of “I Could Have Danced All Night” and then glancing at the old, antique clock on the wall Harry saw it was just about seven o’clock, time for Draco to sing. Harry took a deep breath as Draco walked up to the microphone next to the black grand piano Harry sat at. He raised the mic, since George was about three inches shorter than him. He wore black dress pants and a white dress shirt, a typical waiter’s uniform, but somehow, Harry thought, he just wore it better than everyone else.

Draco began to sing slowly. And as he sang, instead of singing to the audience, Draco sang the whole song directly to Harry, staring into his eyes and letting each word of the song increase the intensity between them.

_Night and day_  
_You are the one_  
_Only you beneath the moon_  
_And under the sun_  
_Whether near to me or far_  
_It’s no matter, baby, where you are_  
_I think of you_  
_Night and day_

_Day and night_  
_Why is it so_  
_That this longing for you_  
_Follows wherever I go?_  
_In the roaring traffic’s boom_  
_In the silence of my lonely room_  
_I think of you_  
_Night and day_

_Night and day_  
_Under the hide of me_  
_Though such a hungry yearning_  
_Burning inside of me_  
_This torment won’t be through_  
_‘Til you let me spend my life_  
_Making love to you_  
_Day and night_  
_Night and day_

_Night and day_  
_Under the hide of me_  
_Oh, such a hungry yearning_  
_Burning, burning inside of me_  
_This torment won’t be through_  
_'Til you let me spend my life_  
_Making love to you_  
_Day and night_

_Night and day_  
_Night and day_  
_Night and day_  
_Night and day_  
_Night, night, night and day_  
_Night and day_  
_Night and day_

The audience clapped and Draco went to the back room, where the waiters typically take a five minute break after their song.

Harry didn’t quite know what to do. He had butterflies in his stomach, and his hands were shaking, but it was all in a sort of magical way. In that moment, Harry made a decision. He got up from the piano and walked swiftly to the back room where he knew Draco would be sitting. When he got there, he saw Draco with his head in his hands, sitting in the corner bouncing his leg up and down.

“Are you okay?”

Draco jumped. “Shit! What are you doing here?”

“I just came back here to… I…”

“Listen, save it. That was weird and stupid and dumb and I’m stupid and-”

“-That’s not what I was going to say, it wasn’t weird and if you would just listen I would tell you that-”

“-God that was just so stupid what the fuck was I doing.”

“-I came back here to kiss you.”

There was a deafening silence between them. Neither of them knew what to say. Harry stared down at his shoes because he couldn’t bear to see Draco’s face after mortifying himself like that.

But, after about fifteen seconds, they both looked into eachother’s eyes. Through that eye contact, they both communicated how badly they wanted to kiss. In an instant they were pressed against each other, their lips locked together tightly. Harry felt his heart beating fast with contentment. His whole body was on a beautiful high. They both lost themselves in the kiss.

After who knows how long, they both came up for air.

“You’re good at more than just piano.”

“You’re good at more than just singing.”

“Well that was kind of a given, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, shut up.”

Draco pulled Harry back into the kiss. The restaurant could do without music for the rest of the night.


End file.
